Agricultural Extension

Global warning and thus climate change is a global issue and its consequences are being felt at varying degrees in different parts of the world. The developing countries are more vulnerable to its effects because of their poor economic status and political instability. In recent times, experiences of more flooding, erosion, drought, storms, rise in sea level and other extreme weather conditions resulting in poverty, degraded environment and low agricultural productivity. It’s devastating impact on various dimension of human endeavours and socio-economic income of nations and individual cannot be over emphasized. Climatologically, has an extremely variable rainfall distribution, which will be exacerbated by climate change. This will inevitably impact on agriculture and the availability of water to sustain human activities. These future climate change impacts are likely to aggravate the harmful effects of poor land use; practices, especially deforestation, soil degradation and water p...

Agricultural extension is the transfer of improved technologies to the farmers to enhance all sectors of agricultural production. Information, language and communication are vital Ingredients needed for an effective transfer of these technologies that are researched to boost agricultural production. For farmers to utilize such, they must first have access to them in their farming system through appropriate use of language and efficient communication strategies. Hence, for effective extension programmes in Nigeria language and efficient communication skills are’ vital ingredients through the use of suitable communication models. Agricultural Extension Agents must he fluent in language; both spoken and written to meet up the professional ethics of the discipline. They should also remove all “Blocks” or “Barriers” to communication delivery in their activities or programmes. They should understand that human communication is unique. in that in language, the use of verbal and nonverbal s...

This study ascertained information needs of rice farmers on inorganic fertilizer use. One hundred and twenty rice farmers purposively selected from Ebonyi State, Nigeria constituted sample for the study. An interview schedule was used to collect data while percentage, mean scores and factor analysis were used for data analysis. Findings indicated that the majority (92.5%) of the respondents obtained information on inorganic fertilizer use from families and friends, all (100%) the respondents obtained fertilizer from the markets while 98.4% had no training on inorganic fertilizer use. Important areas that respondents required information on inorganic fertilizer use for rice production were on how to get fertilizer easily (x̄ =1.89), how to detect good or bad fertilizer (x̄=1086) among others. Institutional, technical, logistic and health constraints limited the farmers from using inorganic fertilizer in rice production. Provision of fertilizer subsidy by government (99.2%) and increa...

This study sought to determine Knowledge and attitude of farmers towards the adoption of pro-vitamin A bio-fortified cassava (PVABC) in Anambra State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling procedures were used in selecting ninety-six cassava farmers. Structured interview schedule, key informant interviews and personal observation were employed for data collection. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics and factor analysis. The study revealed that a greater percent of the farmers obtained information on PVABC production from many sources but preferred fellow farmers for the information. The majority of farmers had high knowledge as well as positive attitudes to PVABC production. Perceived constraints to the adoption of PVABC were organised into environmental constraint, cost and production constraints, labour constraints and marketing constraint. Thus, the study recommends that government and nongovernmental agencies should look into these constraints especially provision of fina...

This study examined factors influencing inorganic fertilizer use among rice farmers in Ebonyi state, Nigeria. A total of 120 rice farmers were purposively selected and used for the study. Data were collected by use of interview schedule and analyses were conducted using frequency, percentage, mean score and regression. Results showed that the respondents applied mostly urea fertilizer (54.2%) usually once (55.8%) on rice farm using broadcast method (100%). The amount of fertilizer applied per hectare in rice farm was 85.63kg. Rice farmers’ inorganic fertilizer use were influenced by number of years spent in school, years of experience in rice production, total size of farm used for rice, total annual income earned from rice production and number of extension agent visit. Surprisingly, rice output (t =1.243; p≥0.05) had no significant influence with inorganic fertilizer use. Government through the ministry of agriculture should organize workshops and train farmers on inorganic fertil...

Aim: To ascertain knowledge and adaptation strategies of eggplant (Solanum melongena) farmers to the effect of bacterial wilt disease in Nsukka Agricultural zone of Enugu state, Nigeria. Study Design: Multi-stage and Simple Random Sampling Design/Technique were used in the study.

This research aimed at characterization and suitability evaluation of upland soils in Kogi East for maize, cassava, and oil palm production with the specific objective of optimizing production as ensuring food security in the region through adequate data generation. The survey adopted a free technique method, using four dug soil profiles denoted as 22a 1 , 22a 2 , 22a 3 and 22a 4. The soil profiles and the environs were adequately characterized following the standard of United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Among the parameters used for evaluation are soil texture, structure, bulk density, pH, organic carbon, cation exchange capacity, base saturation, and others. The results showed that Hues of 2.5 YR and 7.5 YR dominate the surface and subsurface soils. The coarse sand, fine sand, silt, and clay fractions ranged from 350 to 560 g kg-1 , 200 to 390 g kg-1 , 110 to 130 g kg-1 and 90 to 130 g kg-1 with mean values of 468, 295, 120 and 110 at the surface soils, respectively. Among the list of the chemical characteristics, the pH (H 2 O) was higher at the surface soils, having a mean value of 5.4, than at the subsurface soils with a mean value of 5.6 while the percentage base saturation ranged from 25 to 63% and 13 to 70% with mean values of 42% and 29% at the surface and subsurface soils, respectively. By qualitative approach, the soils are currently not suitable for maize, cassava and oil palm owning to fertility limitations.

his study ascertained access and usefulness of agricultural information among poultry farmers in Enugu State, Nigeria. A total of Ninety poultry farmers were selected using multistage sampling technique and data were collected through a structured interview schedule. Findings revealed that both male and female poultry farmers got information on poultry production from multiple sources. Internet was the most accessible platform for sourcing information on poultry production by farmers. Results also revealed that the outbreak of disease and prevention, management of vaccine failure and poultry feed were the most frequently sourced information. Furthermore, results indicated that male poultry farmers considered information from veterinary personnel (M = 4.2) as most useful, while female poultry farmers rated information from internet (M = 5.0) most useful than others. Some of the major constraints to access and usefulness of agricultural information by male poultry farmers were poor internet access (M = 0.813) and poor access/irregular extension visit (M = 0.812) while cost of acquiring communication facilities (M = 0.800), lack of awareness (M = 0.779) and inadequate fund (M = 0.594) were major constraints to access and usefulness of information by female poultry farmers. Thus, government, policy makers, NGOs and related organizations should train many extension agents to dissemination agricultural information since multiple sources of information can lead to contradiction, confusion and information distortion. Also, government should ensure that internet network is made available to farmers in different communities to enable them have access to information using internet services.

The majority of the farmers (73.3%) sourced land through lease/purchase, and capital resources through personal savings (78.3%). The ratios of marginal value product (MVP) to marginal factor cost (MFC) show that no input was efficiently allocated by the arable crop farmers. Results on the effects of the amount of farm resources mobilized and used on arable crop productivity show a positive significant relationship with some variables at 1% level. Also, lack of finance, lack of land, poor road network etc were constraints on farm resources mobilization and allocation efficiency among arable crops farmers. Thus, the study concluded that the amount of farm production resources mobilized was little and farmers were ignorant of proper use. Therefore, the government and other stakeholders in the agricultural sector should organize regular workshops/seminars to educate arable crop farmers on the effective and efficient use of resources to achieve the best output.

The paper explored the rural-urban interdependence in food systems in Nsukka Local Government Area, of Enugu State in Nigeria. Using a stratified sampling technique, 270 household heads participated in the study, comprising of 180 respondents from two rural communities and 90 respondents from the urban area. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis. Results show that household socio-economic characteristics such as age, income, education and occupation play significant role in rural-urban interdependence by influencing the decision to migrate, remain in the rural area, or provide urban services in rural areas. The interdependence revolves around five key aspects namely; the urban supply of food and raw materials, migration, labour supply, remittance, and socio-cultural obligations which facilitate the extent of flow of money, goods, and services between rural and urban economies. Large scale production mainly cassava, pepper, and maize occurs in the rural areas whereas small to medium scale production, mainly vegetables, are practiced in the urban areas. Most rural households use rudimentary farm implements and inputs which limit their capacity to increase agricultural production and maintain the flow of agricultural goods in the rural-urban food systems. Factors such as migration; lack of access to land, market and infrastructure; political instability; and poor policy support affect the rural-urban interdependence and hence will require the diversification of enterprises; provision of requisite infrastructure, technologies and farm inputs; and the provision of enabling environment for the interdependence to thrive.
Keywords: rural, urban, interdependence, food systems, remittance, migration

A sustainable ruminant production system ensures economically viable livestock systems that meet the current and future demands of animal products as well as the environmental safety of current and future generations. The study analyzed the determinants of ruminant farmers' use of sustainable production practices for climate change adaptation and mitigation in Enugu State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling procedure was used to select ninety six (96) ruminant farmers that constituted the sample for the study. Semi-structured interview schedule with open ended questions was used in data collection. Data were analyzed using multiple regression and Pearson Moment Correlation statistics. Access to veterinary services (t = 2.056, p = 0.044), monthly household income (t = 3.582, p = 0.001) and annual income from ruminant production (t = −2.635, p = 0.011) were socio-economic factors that significantly influenced use of sustainable practices. The adjusted R- square implies that the three fa...